


Alone

by wheel_pen



Series: Venkii [12]
Category: Star Trek: Enterprise
Genre: Alternate Universe, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-04-21
Updated: 2013-04-21
Packaged: 2017-12-09 02:45:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,135
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/769055
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wheel_pen/pseuds/wheel_pen
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Mila is sent to work on an alien ship by herself, and is immediately kidnapped—Venkii women are rare and valuable. This story is unfinished.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Alone

**Author's Note:**

> 1\. The Venkii are humans who left Earth long ago, and have a few extra enhancements by now. Mila is a young Venkii woman who has joined the crew of the Enterprise, in Engineering. She can communicate with the ship in a special way.
> 
> 2\. The bad words are censored. That’s just how I do things.
> 
> I hope you enjoy this AU. I own nothing and appreciate the chance to play in this universe.

"By _myself_?"

Archer blinked. Mila was staring at him as if he'd just asked her to take a stroll with him, on the outside of the ship. Without EV suits.

"Yes," he reiterated, slightly startled. "Do you have a problem with that?"

That was supposed to be a rhetorical question. The tone alone indicated to any well-trained officer that he or she was supposed to stiffen the spine, stare straight ahead, and reply crisply, "No, sir!"

"I _do_ ," Mila told him, in the same indignant manner. Archer supposed no one had ever actually promised him Mila was well-trained as an officer.

He also supposed he was going to regret asking his next question. "Why?" Said with teeth gritted and more patience than anyone else at the senior staff briefing would get.

She lifted her nose a touch higher in the air. "Venkii women do not board alien vessels unescorted."

With restraint worthy of a Vulcan Archer refrained from rolling his eyes. "I certainly wouldn't want to compromise a deeply-held tradition, but—" _Get your a-s on that ship!_ he finished internally.

"It is no mere tradition," Mila corrected loftily. "It is simply too dangerous."

"So... you're _afraid_ to go, by yourself?" Archer surmised, in what he hoped was an understanding, non-threatening tone. Perhaps this revelation was really an indication of the trust Mila had learned to place in the senior staff, that she would be comfortable expressing her fear to them?

"That oversimplifies the case," she replied evenly, "but in a word, yes."

There was a pause as Archer tried to figure out what he was supposed to say next. Usually when people confessed to him that they were scared, they sounded, well, scared. And often slightly ashamed. He knew how to diffuse that—the whole, "we're all scared, anyone who says they aren't is lying" argument. But Mila's attitude was confoundingly... matter of fact.

"Venkii women are extremely valuable," she went on, when it became obvious to her that Archer just Didn't Get It. There was a snort from Trip, who had little in the way of restraint himself. He was pointedly ignored. "A number of species have attempted to kidnap us, in the hopes of harnessing our powers."

Archer could see the end of his tolerance swiftly approaching, ragged and flapping in the breeze. "The man has a ship barely larger than a shuttlepod," he ground out, still making a supreme effort to sound reasonable. "It is _locked_ to our ship with docking clamps, and more importantly—it _doesn't work_."

"So _he_ says," Mila shot back untrustingly. "And even if true, my purpose would be to repair it. So that it _would_ work by the time I was done."

"Still a d—n poor getaway vehicle, wouldn't you say?" Archer retorted. "Considering that the scans we've already done show it has only a warp two capacity and minimal weapons."

Mila was unimpressed with this argument and crossed her arms over her chest defiantly. "I will not go on that ship alone."

"Maybe you'd rather sit in the Brig a while, _alone_ ," Archer threatened. His patience held on by one hand—one sweaty hand.

"I could just go, Captain, I—" offered Trip, trying to dissolve the tension.

"No," Archer snapped at him. "You need to stay on _this_ ship, fixing the damage that anomaly did to _us_. And don't say you could send someone else from Engineering," he added crossly, when Trip opened his mouth again. "If _you_ can't go, there's no one better suited than Mila to repair technology we've never seen before."

The compliments to both of them went right over their heads; Trip was too modest to seize upon his, and Mila too recalcitrant. "I was just gonna say, maybe someone could go _along_ with Mila," Trip suggested, not forcefully. He could read his friend well enough to know that Jon was nearly at the end of his rope—but he also knew that Mila could be equally stubborn when she thought she had a good reason. "Two people, make the job go faster..."

He could tell from Archer's expression that idea wasn't going to fly. "Trip, you've been on that ship," the Captain reminded him sharply. "Two people would only get in each other's way. And I'd imagine Bologros will want to oversee the repairs himself, which will only make it _more_ crowded. Which means," he cut Malcolm off before the Tactical Officer could speak, "no room for Security personnel, either."

"Sir," Reed persisted, "I was going to suggest that someone be stationed _outside_ the ship, at the docking port, which could be left open at all times." He shrugged. "I don't think it would be _unusual_ to have a little extra security nearby when one of our crew is working in a foreign environment."

For an instant Trip wanted to kiss Malcolm for his brilliant suggestion, which the Captain could hardly say no to without looking just plain obstinate. After all, even if Trip thought Mila was being a little paranoid, he'd rather not take the chance she might be right. But then Trip saw the soft look Mila was favoring the Tactical Officer with, and somehow the idea seemed _less_ brilliant, something _anyone_ could have come up with, really.

"Well?" Archer asked Mila, still a little sore over having to negotiate duty conditions with a member of his crew. After this job was over he was going to have a little talk with her, he decided. "Does that idea meet with your approval?"

She hesitated, thinking it over. "It would seem a logical compromise," T'Pol put in encouragingly. _Thank you! Finally_ , Archer thought to himself. "The limited danger this ship appears to pose would be greatly reduced by the constant presence of Mr. Reed's personnel. Also, your continuous transmission from the ship would ensure that we were fully aware of what was occurring at all times." Archer was keenly aware that, coming from a society that was strongly matriarchal in some aspects, Mila placed a great deal of faith in T'Pol's recommendations—certainly more than she did in _his_. It grated a little bit, but hey, whatever worked, right?

"And think of all the data you could suck from his ship," Trip suggested helpfully.

"No data sucking," Archer countered quickly, wishing they could come up with a more dignified term. "Bologros is a guest, we're not going to steal from him." Trip rolled his eyes, as if to say that he thought Archer should be a little more flexible on this point, at least _this_ time. "Well?"

"I suppose," Mila began slowly, reluctantly, "that would be... acceptable."

"Fantastic," Archer told her dryly. "The sooner you get started, the sooner you'll be done." _And the sooner we can have that chat about the chain of command,_ he added to himself.

**Author's Note:**

> Sorry I didn’t get very far with this one. The alien kidnaps Mila and sells her on to some larger band of criminals who try to kidnap Venkii women in order to produce children with their special abilities. Archer is forced to call in Mila’s father for help rescuing her.


End file.
